Nearly half of American households have no retirement savings (2024)

FAQs

What percentage of Americans have no enough retirement savings? ›

WASHINGTON—A new AARP survey finds that 20% of adults ages 50+ have no retirement savings, and more than half (61%) are worried they will not have enough money to support them in retirement.

Among the chief shortfalls of the U.S. retirement system is access to a workplace retirement plan, experts said. About half of workers don't have access and are unlikely to save for retirement outside a 401(k)-type plan, they said.

Another big part of the problem when it comes to saving for retirement is that savings plans are not universally available in the U.S. Almost half of private sector employees ages 18 to 64, or 57 million Americans, do not have the option to save for retirement at work.

Nearly one in three (32 percent) U.S. adults working full-time, part-time or who are temporarily unemployed estimate they would need more than $1 million to retire comfortably, but 45 percent of workers say it's unlikely they'll be able to save enough to do that, according to a new Bankrate poll.

As families continue working to make ends meet, a report from USA Facts reflects that almost half of American households have no retirement savings. According to the Survey of Consumer Finances, in 2022 almost half of American household retirement savings accounts were empty.

As of May 2023, more than 1 in 5 Americans have no emergency savings. Nearly one in three (30 percent) people in 2023 had some emergency savings, but not enough to cover three months of expenses. This is up from 27 percent of people in 2022. Note: Not all percentages total 100 due to rounding.

Without savings, it will be difficult to maintain the same lifestyle an individual had in working years. Some retirees make adjustments by: Moving into a smaller home or apartment. Reducing television or streaming services.

What are two reasons Americans don't save more for retirement? Aside from inflation, respondents cited stagnant or reduced income, new expenses and the desire to keep more cash on hand as key reasons they're not saving more.

The average American has $65,100 in savings — excluding retirement assets — according to Northwestern Mutual's 2023 Planning & Progress Study. That's a 5% increase over the $62,000 reported in 2022.

By some measures, millennials lag on retirement preparedness and net worth relative to older generations such as Gen X and baby boomers. There are many reasons for this, such as a shift away from pensions toward 401(k) plans and high student debt burdens.

Is 100K in retirement by 30 good? ›

“By the time you're 40, you should have three times your annual salary saved. Based on the median income for Americans in this age bracket, $100K between 25-30 years old is pretty good; but you would need to increase your savings to reach your age 40 benchmark.”

Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, according to an FBI report released Tuesday that shows a rise in losses through increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics to trick the vulnerable into giving up their life savings.

The Federal Reserve also measures median and mean (average) savings across other types of financial assets. According to the data, the average 70-year-old has approximately: $60,000 in transaction accounts (including checking and savings) $127,000 in certificate of deposit (CD) accounts.

How long will $1 million in retirement savings last? In more than 20 U.S. states, a million-dollar nest egg can cover retirees' living expenses for at least 20 years, a new analysis shows. It's worth noting that most Americans are nowhere near having that much money socked away.

The result? Nearly seven in 10 Americans (69%) had less than $1,000 in their savings account. Breaking the survey data down a bit further, we find that 34% of Americans don't have a dime in their savings account, while another 35% have less than $1,000.

But most people are far from reaching that objective, with the study finding that the average amount held in a retirement account today is just $88,400. That means that the typical worker has a $1.37 million gap between their actual savings and their retirement aspirations.

In the bad news category: 36.84% of Californians surveyed have less than $10,000 saved, putting the state in the top 10 in that category.

In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings. The majority of retirees, however, have far less saved.